!PJlSTOR.AL  LETTER 


CLERGY     AND      LAITY 


Drotestat  <%tst0pl  filntrtl]  in  ilje  *§mtst  tf  ©Ma, 


OX  THE  SUBJECTS  OF 


CONFIRMATION  AND  CHURCH  MUSIC: 


TO  BE  BEAD  IN  THE   CONGREGATIONS   OF  THE   DIOCESE   OX  THE   FIRST 
SUNDAY   AFTER   ITS   RECEPTION. 


Resolved,  [by  the  Convention  of  the  Diocese  of  Ohio,]  That  the  Bishop  be  respectfully  re- 
quested to  embody  so  much  of  his  Address  as  relates  to  the  subjects  of  Confirmation" and 
Church  Music,  in  the  form  of  a  Pastoral  to  the  Gergy  and  Laity  of  the  Church,  with  his 
request  that  it  be  read  publicly  by  the  ministers  of  the  churches  in  this  Diocese,  to  their 
respective  congregations. — [Offered  by  Rev.  Mr.  Cumming,  and  adopted  June  8,  1856. 


COLUMBUS: 

PRINTED  BY  THE  OHIO  STATE  JOURNAL  COMPANY. 

1855. 


FROM   THE   LIBRARY   OF 
REV.    LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON,   D.  D. 

BEQUEATHED    BY   HIM   TO 
THE   LIBRARY   OF 


PRINCETON   THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


?553 


m 
m 

:.:•■■■■ 


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I 


PASTOEAL  LETTER 


CLERGY     AND      LAITY 


Protestant  (%tapl  %rtjr  in  tlje  gkts*  0f  ©p, 


ON  THE  SUBJECTS  OF 


CONFIRMATION  AND  CHUM  MUSIC: 


TO  BE   READ  IN  THE   CONGREGATIONS   OF  THE   DIOCESE   ON  THE   FIRST 
SUNDAY  AFTER  ITS   RECEPTION. 


/ 


_J^A  cllv 


COLUMBUS: 

PRINTED  BY  THE  OHIO  STATE  JOURNAL  COMPANY 

1855. 


PASTORAL  LETTER. 


Dearly  Beloved  Brethren  : 

Having,  at  our  recent  Diocesan  Convention  at  Zanesville,  addressed 
the  clergy  and  laity  therein  assembled,  on  certain  topics  of  much  inter- 
est, more  particularly  on  the  spiritual  qualifications  for  Confirmation, 
and  the  interests  of  that  part  of  our  public  worship  with  which  Music 
is  associated,  I  was  requested  by  the  Convention  to  set  forth  so  much 
of  my  Address  as  related  to  those  two  subjects,  in  the  form  of  a  Pas- 
toral Letter  to  the  Churches.  This  request  I  proceed  to  comply  with, 
by  extracting  from  my  Annual  Address,  as  it  will  be  found  on  the 
pages  of  the  Journal  of  the  Convention,  the  precise  words  on  those 
subjects  which  attracted  the  attention  of  that  body. 

On  the  subject  of  Confirmation,  my  Address  stated  that  the  number 
of  confirmations  since  the  previous  Convention  was  much  less  than  that 
of  the  previous  year.  Two  considerations  were  given  as  explaining  the 
difference,  namely :  the  interval  between  the  two  Conventions  being 
only  a  little  more  than  eight  months,  the  parishes  visited  are  twenty-two 
less  than  last  year,  while  in  almost  all  instances  the  interval  between 
the  last  visitation  and  the  preceding  has  been  shorter  than  usual.  After 
these  reasons,  I  proceeded  as  follows : 

But  here  I  take  occasion  to  assure  you  that  while  I  most  earnestly 
desire  the  greatest  increase  of  the  number  of  truly  converted  persons 


gathered  out  of  the  world  into  the  fold  of  Christ,  and  while  in  such 
increase  and  the  growth  of  believers  in  every  .Christian  grace,  we  must 
look  for  the  only  fruit  of  our  ministry  that  will  abide  the  winnowing  of 
Him  whose  fan  is  in  his  hand,  I  have  no  desire  that  the  clergy  should 
present  to  me  for  confirmation  any  but  those  who,  in  the  judgment  of 
charity,  they  have  reason  to  trust  are  truly  converted  to  Christ. 
Whether  a  large  number  presented  for  confirmation,  or  any,  indeed, 
are  to  me  a  pleasant  spectacle,  an  encouragement  to  my  heart,  a  just 
subject  of  congratulation  to  the  pastor,  an  evidence  of  the  success  of 
our  ministry,  or  of  the  prosperity  of  the  Church,  depends  altogether 
upon  the  question,  how  far  they  consist  of  those  who  seriously  and  in- 
telligently profess  the  hope  that,  by  the  grace  of  Grod,  they  have  been 
changed  in  heart,  made  new  creatures  in  Christ,  and  in  heart  and  life 
have  truly  renounced  the  world,  and  embraced,  in  its  stead,  the  whole 
obedience  of  the  Gospel.  Tell  me  that  those  who  come  to  be  con- 
firmed make  no  such  profession  in  their  hearts,  tell  me  that  they  are 
renouncing  the  vanities  of  the  world  only  after  the  world's  interpreta- 
tion ;  that  they  do  not  realize  that  their  confirmation  is  their  solemn 
declaration  before  Grod  and  man,  that,  in  heart  and  life  they  have  em- 
braced Christ,  and  do  devote  themselves  to  his  service  ;  tell  me  that  in 
their  state  of  mind,  or  in  their  views  of  what  they  promise  and  profess 
in  their  confirmation,  there  is  no  security  that  they  will  not  be  seen 
again,  as  ever,  mingling  in  scenes  of  worldly  conformity,  seeking  their 
pleasure  where  a  spiritual  mind  can  find  no  pleasure  ;  tell  me  there  is 
no  promise  in  their  professed  experience  that  the  Lord  will  be  glorified 
in  their  walk  and  life,  as  trophies  of  his  converting  grace,  then,  though 
hundreds  come,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  their  confirmation.  But  tell  me 
that  one  single  soul,  out  of  those  hundreds,  does  realize  all ;  does  se- 
riously, after  solemn  self-examination,  trust  that  he  is  a  new  creature, 
and  is  of  a  contrite  spirit,  and  loves  the  service  of  Christ,  and  makes 
him  all  his  hope,  and  desires  only  to  live  for  him  ;  then,  though  that  one 


be  the  obscurest,  and  poorest,  and  least  valuable  in  a  worldly  sense  of 
all,  I  shall  esteem  that  one  soul  as  of  great  price,  and  will  lay  hands  on 
his  head  with  pleasure  indeed,  and  pray  God,  with  faith,  that  he  may 
continue  His  forever,  and  daily  increase  in  His  Holy  Spirit  more  and 
more,  until  he  enter  the  everlasting  kingdom.  Yes,  that  one  contrite 
heart  is  to  me  a  more  encouraging  confirmation  than  any  number  who 
might  come  in  any  other  spirit.  Let  us  he  persuaded,  brethren,  and 
act  always  on  the  persuasion,  that  numbers  added  to  the  communion, 
independently  of  their  conversion  to  God,  can  never  profit  the  Church, 
are  no  blessing  to  our  ministry ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  must  hang  as  a 
dead  weight  upon  the  true  life  of  the  Church,  reducing  its  standard  of 
practical  godliness,  crippling  its  energies,  deforming  its  example,  and 
conforming  it  to  the  world.  What  possible  benefit  to  a  Church  can 
there  be,  what  evidence  of  prosperity,  what  honor  to  God,  what  good  to 
the  souls  of  men,  in  having  a  number  of  persons  connected  with  our 
communion,  who,  before  God  and  man,  have  ratified  upon  their  souls 
the  most  solemn  vows  of  self-dedication  to  God  and  renunciation  of  the 
world,  and  thus  have  had  the  door  opened  to  them  to  the  highest  privi- 
leges of  the  Lord's  people,  at  his  holy  table,  but  who  either  never  come 
to  that  table,  or  if  they  do,  are  manifesting  an  example  in  contradiction  to 
all  the  qualifications  of  a  true  communicant.  I  well  know  it  is  not  in 
us  to  search  the  heart,  or  to  eay  who  are  Christ's,  and  who  are  not. 
But  we  can  do  what  our  Church  teaches  us  to  do.  What  she  says  to  all 
who  meditate  a  participation  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  she  says,  and  bids 
us  say,  to  all  who  think  of  coming  to  that  ordinance,  which  is  simply 
the  door  to  that  sacrament,  and  gives  title  to  its  reception.  Imme- 
diately before  the  Order  for  Confirmation,  occur  these  last  words  of  the 
Catechism  :  "  What  is  required  of  those  who  come  to  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per ?  Answer — To  examine  themselves  whether  they  repent  them 
truly  of  their  former  sins,  steadfastly  purposing  to  lead  a  new  life  j  have 


a  lively  faith  in  God's  mercy  through  Christ,  with  a  thankful  remem- 
brance of  his  death;  and  be  in  charity  with  all  men."  Such,  then, 
are  the  requisites  for  confirmation, — serious  self-examination  as  to  the 
work  of  grace  in  the  heart ;  whether  it  has  brought  that  heart  to  true 
repentance  j  in  other  words,  whether  it  has  created  in  the  sinner  a  new 
heart,  leading  to  the  steadfast  purpose  of  a  new  life.  And  again,  self- 
examination  as  to  that  inward  work  of  grace,  whether  it  has  proceeded 
so  far  as  to  lead  the  sinner  to  the  exercise  of  a  "  lively  faith  in  God's 
mercy  through  Christ ;"  in  other  words,  to  a  "faith  that  worketh  by 
love,"  that  "overeometh  and  renounceth  the  world ;"  for  no  other  faith 
is  a  lively  faith,  a  faith  which  expects  mercy  only  through  the  merits  of 
Christ,  renouncing  all  other  trust  and  hope. 

"We  cannot  say  who  thus  repents  and  believes  and  who  does  not ;  but, 
brethren,  we  can  earnestly  and  faithfully  teach  and  maintain  that  none 
but  such  as  do  thus  examine  themselves,  and  in  such  examination  do 
intelligently  trust  that  they  are  thus  penitent  and  believing,  should 
come  to  confirmation  any  more  than  to  the  communion  ;  and  while  we 
encourage  all  such  freely  to  come  to  both,  we  can  and  ought  to  warn 
all  others  that  they  come  not ;  and  if  any  apply  to  be  received,  who, 
besides  their  sufficient  knowledge  of  Christian  doctrine,  are  not  able  to 
profess  that  they  have  thus  seriously  and  solemnly  examined  themselves, 
and  that  they  do  thus  trust  that  they  find  in  themselves  the  evidences 
of  a  true  repentance  and  a  lively  faith,  and  are  fully  purposed,  in  spirit 
and  in  truth,  in  reality  as  well  as  name,  to  renounce  "the  pomps  and 
vanities  of  the  world,"  as  well  as  "the  sinful  lusts  of  the  flesh,"  and 
(as  one  plainly  required  act  of  obedience,  and  one  so  nearly  connected 
with  confirmation,)  to  participate  in  the  communion  which  the  Lord 
has  commanded,  we  ought  not  to  admit  them  to  be  confirmed.  Must 
the  Bishop,  administering  confirmation,  say  in  the  first  prayer  of  the 
office,  "  Almighty  God,  who  has  vouchsafed  to  regenerate  these  thy 
servants  by  water  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  hast  given  unto  them  for- 


giveness  of  all  their  sins,"  and  must  be  not  at  least  have  the  comfort  of 
feeling  assured  that,  while  he  can  know  whether  their  sins  are  forgiven, 
only  as  they  profess  to  have  truly  repented,  and  to  be  now  in  the  exer- 
cise of  "  a  lively  faith  in  God's  mercy  through  Christ,"  and  it  is  only 
on  that  supposed  profession  that  the  Church  puts  into  his  mouth  that 
prayer — must  he  not,  I  say,  have  the  comfort  of  the  assurance  that  all 
who  come  to  be  confirmed  do  consider  themselves  as  making  that  pro- 
fession in  the  very  act  of  coming  ;  that  their  pastor,  who  presents  them, 
has  duly  ascertained  from  each  of  them  that  such  is  their  profession  and 
such  is  their  understanding,  and  that  he  has  solemnly  exhorted  them 
that  what  they  thus  trust  and  profess,  shall  be,  according  to  the  admo- 
nition of  the  Church,  in  consequence  of  having  first  solemnly  "exam- 
ined themselves'' 'f 

How  painful  to  a  Bishop  to  have  to  utter  those  words  of  prayer  over 
a  company  of  persons  presented,  and  yet  not  have  the  confidence  that 
the  pastor  has  been  faithful  to  secure,  as  far  as  he  can,  that  self-exami- 
nation, that  right  understanding  of  what  each  must  be  considered  as 
doing,  that  actual,  personal,  inward  and  real,  as  well  as  outward  and 
ceremonial  profession  of  true  repentance  and  "lively  faith."  Be  per- 
suaded, we  shall  never  gain  souls  to  Christ,  or  honor  to  the  Gospel,  or 
prosperity  to  the  Church,  or  increase  to  its  spiritual  strength ;  we  shall 
never  advance  one  single  step  in  the  fulfilment  of  our  ministry,  by 
relaxing  or  keeping  in  the  background  these  plain  and  self-evident 
terms.  "To  this  man"  saith  the  Lord,  "will  I  look,  even  to  him 
that  is  humble  and  of  a  contrite  spirit  and  that  trembleth  at  my  word." 
Many  others,  when  he  hath  shut  the  door,  will  stand  without  and  cry  : 
"  Lord,  Lord,  open  unto  us,"  and  they  will  plead  that  they  have  "eaten 
and  drunk  in  his  presence,"  been  at  his  table,  and  in  his  name  "done 
many  wonderful  works,"  but  to  none  of  them  will  he  look,  because  the 
contrite  heart,  the  obedient,  new  heart,  the  living  faith,  is  not  in  them. 
He  will  say:  "I  never  knew  you," — "workers  of  iniquity"  he  will 


8 

call  them.  They  have  deceived  themselves.  But  alas  !  did  any  min- 
ister of  the  Gospel,  by  keeping  back  from  them  the  truth,  by  encour- 
aging them  to  Gospel  ordinances  before  they  had  examined  themselves, 
whether  they  had  a  gospel  repentance  and  a  lively  faith;  did  any% min- 
ister assist  and  promote  their  self-delusion  ?  Let  us  be  careful.  True, 
we  must  not  break  the  bruised  reed,  nor  quench  the  smoking  flax ;  but 
we  must  ask,  is  the  reed  a  bruised  reed  ?  Is  the  heart  a  contrite  heart  ? 
Is  the  flax  the  smoking  flax  ?  Is  the  fire  of  a  true  love  in  the  heart '( 
It  may  be  very  feeble,  as  the  fire  in  the  flax,  when  it  is  so  weak  that 
the  smoke  is  its  only  evidence,  but  the  fire  must  be  there  nevertheless, 
and  it  will  find  some  way  to  manifest  itself,  and  nothing  can  supply 
its  place. 

I  have  thus  enlarged  on  this  subject,  brethren,  not  only  that  I  may 
again,  as  I  have  often  done  before,  contribute  my  feeble  effort  to  keep 
up,  what  there  are  so  many  influences  at  work  to  depress,  namely : 
the  right  standard  of  qualification  for,  and  a  strict  faithfulness  in  admit- 
ting to  confirmation,  and  hence  to  the  communion — a  door  which  requires 
continual  watching ;  but  that  I  may  encourage  you  and  help  your 
patience  and  steadfastness,  when  the  trial  of  having  very  few  candidates 
to  present,  after  long  and  earnest  laboring,  is  bearing  upon  you. 

We  are  all  compassed  with  infirmities.  Man  loves  the  praise  of  man. 
It  is  thought  an  evidence  of  a  successful  minister  and  a  prospering 
parish  when  a  large  flock  is  presented  for  confirmation.  It  may  be  such 
evidence — it  may  not  be.  A  faithful  minister  is  tempted  by  the  desire 
of  such  evidence  to  open  the  door  too  wide,  to  relax  the  requisitions  or 
not  to  urge  them  as  he  should,  to  withhold  the  needed  warning,  to  yield 
an  unmerited  encouragement,  to  urge  where  he  should  not.  The  com- 
parison of  his  parish  with  others  in  point  of  confirmations  may  be  painful 
to  him.  Be  faithful.  Leave  results  to  God.  Have  not  Bishops  the 
same  temptation  ?  Are  there  not  comparisons  between  Dioceses  as  well 
as   parishes?    If  a  looser   system  is  practised,  and  a  wider  door  is 


opened  in  other  Dioceses,  than  that  which  I  have  always  inculcated, 
must  not  comparisons  be  drawn  between  the  number  brought  to  confir- 
mation there  and  here,  which  must  seem  unfavorable  to  the  compara- 
tive prosperity  of  the  Church  in  this  Diocese  ?  None  of  these  things 
move  me,  and  I  trust  will  not  move  you.  I  have  learned  how  little  is 
learned  by  the  mere  numbering  of  the  people.  The  question  should 
first  be  asked,  on  what  terms,  by  what  rule,  more  or  less  strict,  are  can- 
didates for  confirmation  admitted  by  the  pastor,  and  presented  to  the 
Bishop  ?  Let  us  stand  by  our  duty,  seeking  our  reward  in  our  duty, 
and  our  praise  of  God. 


After  these  remarks  on  Confirmation,  I  spoke,  in  my  Address  to  the 
Convention,  on  the  subject  of  the  Memorial  addressed  to  the  House  of 
Bishops  at  the  last  General  Convention,  by  certain  Presbyters,  in  re- 
gard to  the  better  adaptation  of  our  Church  services,  and  whole  action, 
to  the  need  of  the  times.  For  much  of  what  I  then  said  on  that  head, 
I  must  refer  you  to  the  whole  Address,  as  published  in  the  Journal  of 
the  Convention.  At  the  request  of  the  Convention,  I  place  in  this 
Letter  the  following  extracts  : 

There  is   much  opinion  expressed  in  the  Memorial,   and  by 


those  who  have  written  on  the  subjects  introduced  therein,  that  our  ser- 
vice, at  least  our  morning  service,  is  too  long.  Whether,  when  we 
strictly  conform  to  what  is  required,  adding  nothing  that  is  not  required, 
spending  no  time  in  our  service  about  appendages  which  are  purely 
voluntary  and  of  no  benefit,  the  service  needs  abridgement,  I  will  not 
now  express  any  opinion.  There  will  be  a  better  opportunity  when 
that  question  is  to  be  acted  on.  But  that  we  often  make  the  service 
too  long ;  that,  in  many  parts  of  our  Church  it  is  made  much  too  long, 


10 


by  unedifying,  or  at  least  needless,  additions  to  what  the  rubrics  require, 
I  have  no  doubt.  It  is  a  subject,  brethren,  which  demands  your  serious 
consideration.  One  thing  is  certain,  the  required  service  is  long  enough. 
The  good  of  our  congregations  demands  that  it  should  be  made  no 
longer.  Let  us  then  consider  how  we  are  chargeable  with  needless  and 
unprofitable  additions,  which  it  were  better  to  avoid. 

Before  the  beginning  of  the  appointed  service,  when  the  minister  is 
ready,  and  the  time  has  come  for  its  commencement,  the  precious  mo- 
ments are  often  occupied  with  an  anthem,  or  something  analogous,  and 
sometimes  very  long,  for  which  no  rubrical  provision  is  made,  and  which 
is,  almost  always,  not  only  selected  by,  but  introduced  or  omitted  at  the 
single  discretion  of  the  choir.  It  is  usually  a  mere  'performance  by  the 
orchestra !  which  the  people  are  not  expected  and  are  unable,  to 
unite  in ;  and  frequently  the  music  is  set  to  words  unknown  to,  and 
that  can  not  be  distinguished  by,  the  congregation.  Let  it  be  remem- 
bered that  the  service  of  the  Church  has  not  commenced,  until  such 
prefixes  are  ended.  By  all  means,  let  the  people  sit  while  they  are  in 
progress ;  for  the  worship  has  not  begun,  and  their  strength  should  be 
kept  for  its  own  sufficient  requirements.  I  think  all  the  addition  made 
to  the  length  of  the  service  by  such  preliminaries,  however  well  exe- 
cuted and  well  intended,  should  be  avoided.  Again  :  in  my  younger 
days,  the  Gloria  Patri  was  not  generally  read  or  sung,  except  at  the 
end  of  the  Psalter,  where  it  is  required.  It  is  not  required  any  where 
else.  But  now,  at  a  time  when  we  are  met  on  every  side  with  com- 
plaints that  our  service  is  too  long,  and  it  is  so  much  the  question  how 
it  may  be  best  abridged,  the  custom  is  to  sing  the  Gloria  Patri  at  the 
end  of  every  anthem,  and  sometimes  at  the  end  of  every  psalm  in  the 
daily  Psalter.  Thus  time  is  needlessly  spent.  I  think  that  in  the 
present  state  of  our  required  service,  it  would  be  wise  to  confine  the 
Gloria  Patri  to  the  end  of  the  Psalter,  and  omit  it  every  where  else, 


11 


especially  -when  the  time  occupied  in  the  use  of  it  is  increased  by  its 
being   chanted.     Such   was    old   custom   in   most   of  our   Churches. 
Composers  of  music  books,  for  the  most  part,  not  ministers  or  congre- 
gations, have  changed  it.     Again  :  there  is  a  most  unprofitable  and 
inexcusable  protraction  in  the  voluntaries,  with  which  the  organ  often 
introduces  the  chants  and  hymns ;  but  especially  in  those  voluntaries 
which  are  played  between  the  verses  of  the  psalms  and  hymns,  at  the 
discretion  of  the  organist,  and  often  to  the  great  detriment  of  the  worship 
of  the  congregation.     Of  what  possible  use  are  they  to  the  devotion  of 
the  people  ?     "Why  must  a  whole  congregation  be  kept  standing,  in 
silence  and  weariness,  to  listen  simply  to  an  organ  ?     Why  must  the 
devotional  sentiment  of  the  hymn,  and  the  connection  of  thought  in  the 
mind   of  the  worshiper,  be  interrupted  to  give  place  simply  to  the 
playing  of  an  organ  ?     The  voluntaries   are  often  so  long,  that  they 
make  a  serious  addition  to  the  length  of  our  services;  the  more  so, 
when  it  is  recollected  that  the  people  are  standing  while  they  proceed. 
I  have  never  known  a  congregation  that  did  not  complain  of  them ;  and 
still  they  are  tolerated,  as  if  it  were  supposed  they  actually  belong  to 
the  prescribed  order  of  our  worship.     They  are  the  rubric  of  the  organ- 
ist, not  of  the  Church.     We  have  not  time  for  them  —  we  have  not 
strength  to  spend  in  standing  to  listen  to  them.     We  are  inquiring  on 
all  sides  how  our  services  may  be  abridged  without  impairing  their 
integrity.     Here  is  one  way  —  and  an  easy  way.     Five  minutes,  at 
least — often  ten  —  sometimes  fifteen  and  twenty,  would  be  gained  in 
many  churches,  by  laying  aside  such  useless  things  as  I  have  now 
adverted  to ;  and  that  would  be  a  gain  of  an  important  proportion  of 
the  whole  time  of  our  morning  prayer.     But  again  :  have  we  not  often 
too  much  chanting,  especially  when  the  Te  Deum  is  sung,  unless  our 
chanting  is  brought  to  its  proper  simplicity,  which  would  make  it  oc- 
cupy  scarcely  more  time  than  ordinary  deliberate  reading.     I  once 


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timed  a  To  Deum,  not  unfrequently  sung,  which  occupied  eleven  min- 
utes ;  and  all  that  while  the  people  were  standing  in  silence ;  for,  of 
course,  they  could  not  unite  in  it.  Can  we  complain  that  our  service 
should  seem  too  long,  when  such  things  are  done?  Often  the  chants 
to  other  parts  are  much  too  long ;  witness  the  most  common,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  least  devotional,  of  those  employed  for  the  Gloria  Patri, 
and  certain  chants  that  are  often  used  at  the  announcement  of  the 
Gospel.  The  longer,  the  less  suitable,  is  a  general  rule  with  chants  for 
public  worship ;  because  the  longer,  ordinarily,  the  less  simple,  the  more 
complex,  the  least  adapted  to  the  use  of  the  congregation,  and  the  more 
expensive  of  time  and  of  the  strength  of  those  who  wish  to  stand  when 
the  praises  of  God  are  sung. 

I  believe  that,  simply,  by  having  better  music,  because  more  simple ; 
by  restricting  the  organ  to  being  the  accompaniment,  instead  of  being 
ever  the  suspension  of  the  worship,  and  by  having  neither  reading  nor 
singing  where  no  rubric  requires  either,  till  we  come  to  the  metrical 
psalm  or  hymn,  we  may  avoid  a  great  deal  of  that  weariness  to  the 
flesh,  which,  without  any  remunerating  benefit,  causes  our  services  to 
seem  to  many,  and  especially  to  the  aged,  too  long.  For  this  we  need 
no  legislation.     And  is  it  not  worth  our  while  to  see  to  it? 

This  leads  me  to  the  general  subject  of  singing  in  our  congregations. 
How  little  we  have  of  it !  Singing  to  our  congregations  we  have  in 
abundance.  But  what  a  poor  substitute  it  is  for  that  singing  of  the 
praises  of  God  in  the  congregation  and  by  the  congregation,  which  oin 
service  contemplates,  and  for  the  absence  of  which,  as  a  matter  of  devo 
tion,  the  best  music  that  man  ever  executed  can  make  no  amends.  We 
have  become  so  accustomed  to  the  surrender  of  all  that  delightful  por- 
tion of  our  public  worship  to  the  organ  and  the  choir,  the  whole  con- 
gregation being  contented  to  listen  to  a  mere  performance  of  sacred 
music,  when  they  are  expected  all  to  unite  in  the  vocal  praise  of  God 


13 


that  we  have  ceased  in  a  great  degree  to  realize  how  greatly  we  have 
departed  from  our  duty,  and  our  pleasure,  and  profit,  in  that  part  of  our 
worship.  Why  should  not  all  the  responses  be  given  up  to  the  choir,  as 
well  as  all  the  psalms  and  hymns?  If  it  would  strike  you  as  a  very 
miserable  way  of  conducting  worship  to  have  one  voice  in  the  gallery  to 
respond  in  place  of  the  whole  congregation;  how  is  the  case  improved 
when  a  few  voices  in  the  gallery  are  singing  in  place  of  the  whole  con- 
gregation? I  never  Isaw  the  man  who  did  not  feel  that  the  singing  of 
a  whole  assembly,  however  plain  the  music,  and  imperfectly  executed, 
is  unspeakably  more  like  the  reality  of  worship,  and  in  accordance  with 
the  character  of  a  Church  of  God ;  more  impressive,  more  effective, 
more  calculated  to  aid  devotional  affections,  than  the  solitary  perform- 
ances of  the  best  orchestra  that  ever  engrossed  to  itself  the  singing  of 
the  praises  of  God. 

I  desire  very  earnestly  to  call  the  attention  of  the  clergy  to  this  sub- 
ject. Congregational  singing,  with  or  without  the  aid  of  an  organ 
and  a  choir,  is  the  only  singing  that  answers  the  ends  of  public  wor- 
ship. We  have  far  too  little  of  it.  In  many  of  our  churches  it  is 
almost  dead.  In  many  it  is  quite  dead.  I  speak  not  of  this  Diocese 
now,  but  of  our  whole  Church.  The  performance  of  music  by  a  choir 
often  seems  to  be  considered  the  whole  attainment  to  be  desired,  as  if 
to  listen  to  performances,  instead  of  to  worship  with  voice  and  heart, 
were  the  whole  duty  of  man,  in  that  part  of  our  services.  But  can  we 
consent  to  this?  Where  is  the  remedy?  Do  you  say  the  people  will 
not  sing  ?  Certainly  they  will  not,  when  chants  and  tunes  are  sung 
that  are  so  new,  so  difficult,  so  often  changed  for  others  equally  new, 
that  not  only  have  they  never  learned  them,  but  learn  them  they  can 
not.  But  how  is  it  when  so  familiar  a  tune  as  Old  Hundred  is  sung  ? 
Do  not  the  people  then  unite?  How  is  it  in  the  lecture  room,  the 
prayer  meeting,  in  the  hymn  before  the  Communion  ?     Do  not  the  people 


14 


join  ?  Why  ?  Because  tunes  are  sung  which  are  familiar — so  simple 
as  to  be  easily  learned — so  adapted  that  no  special  cultivation  of  ear  or 
voice  is  needed  for  their  adoption.  And  if  you  would  see  to  it  that 
such  tunes  and  chants  alone  are  sung;  if  you  will  prevent  this  con- 
stant introduction  of  new  music,  without  the  least  regard  to  the  rights 
of  the  congregation ;  if  you  will  see  to  it  that,  not  display  of  voices, 
nor  exhibition  of  art,  but  simply  the  devotional  feelings  and  profit  of 
the  people,  are  consulted  in  the  selection  of  the  chants  and  tunes,  and 
in  the  manner  of  their  execution,  you  will  remove  all  the  causes  that 
have  led  to  the  evils  we  now  deplore,  and  will  do  very  much  to  elevate 
our  public  worship,  in  this  very  important  branch,  to  a  measure  of 
interest  in  which,  in  some  places  of  worship,  where  there  are  neither 
choirs  nor  organs,  we  are  far  exceeded,  in  the  judgment  of  the  truly 
spiritual  worshiper. 

And  is  it.  not  the  duty  of  the  clergy  to  see  to  this?  Is  not  the  duty 
of  seeing  to  it  entirely  committed  to  the  clergy  ?  I  would  revive  in 
your  recollections  the  law  of  the  Church,  printed  in  every  Prayer  Book, 
just  before  the  Psalms  in  Metre,  where  it  is  written  thus :  "It  shall  be 
the  duty  of  every  minister,  with  such  assistance  as  he  can  obtain  from 
persons  skilled  in  music,  to  give  order  concerning  the  tunes  to  be  sung 
at  any  time  in  his  Church;  and  especially  it  shall  be  his  duty  to  sup- 
press all  light  and  unseemly  music." 

All  light  and  unseemly  music  !  Music  merely  for  the  exhibition  of 
musical  art,  on  the  part  of  a  few,  which  the  congregation  cannot  unite 
in ;  which  the  very  nature  of  the  performance  forbids  them  to  unite  in ; 
especially,  which  is  so  executed  that  it  requires  a  very  nice  ear  to  ascer- 
tain any  of  the  words  sung — much  more  to  catch  them  so  as  to  join 
them  together  and  extract  the  hidden  sentiment  of  devotion ;  music, 
therefore,  which  is  as  much  worshiping  in  an  unknown  tongue  as  ever 
Romish  Mass  could  be — and  therefore  cannot  be  worship  to  the  congre- 


15 


gation  in  any  degree.  I  ask  you  whether  such  music,  no  matter  how 
well  performed,  is  not  indeed  "light  and  unseemly"  considering  the 
rights  of  the  congregation  and  the  only  true  nature  of  Christian  wor- 
ship? "What  if  our  reading  of  prayers  should  be  such  that  what  we 
say  could  not  he  heard  j  so  mumbled  or  so  rapid  that  the  people  could 
not  join  or  follow — would  it  not  be  "light  and  unseemly  "?  What  if 
we  should  preach,  simply  for  exhibition  of  rhetoric  or  gesture,  of  art  of 
composition  or  delivery,  so  that  the  mass  of  our  hearers,  especially  the 
unlettered,  could  learn  nothing  from  us — would  it  not  be  "light  and 
unseemly"1}  And  must  not  our  hymns  and  psalms  be  as  intelligible, 
and  as  much  a  part  of  our  common  prayer  and  praise,  as  the  prayers 
we  read,  and  as  level  to  the  minds  of  the  humble  and  unlettered  as  our 
sermons  ? 

To  the  minister,  as  you  have  just  seen,  there  is  given  dominion  over 
the  tunes  sung.  There  is  no  need  ordinarily  that  he  should  select  each 
tune,  though  in  my  visitations  I  have  sometimes  had  to  do  that,  when  I 
knew  that  otherwise  there  would  be  "unseemly  music,"  such  as  the 
minister  is  required  to  prevent.  But  the  minister  should  so  exercise 
his  authority,  (and  there  is  a  way  of  exercising  it,  kindly,  gently,  con- 
siderately, so  as  to  give  no  offence  and  to  carry  the  consent  and  appro- 
bation of  all  with  him,)  he  should  so  exercise  his  authority  as  to  sup- 
press such  selections  of  tunes,  as  by  their  frequent  newness,  and  espe- 
cially by  their  want  of  simplicity  and  facility  of  adaptation,  deprive 
the  congregation  of  their  privilege  of  vocally  uniting  in  them ;  and  he 
should  secure  that  general  rule  of  selection  which  will  insure  to  the 
people  the  tunes  which,  by  the  usage  of  generations,  they  are  able  every 
where  to  join  in,  with  such  additions  only,  now  and  then,  if  additions 
are  really  needed,  as  the  people,  by  frequent  repetition,  may  reasonably 
be  expected  to  learn. 


16 


I  believe  that,  in  this  way,  under  the  proper  exhortation  of  the  min- 
ister, we  may  have  what,  in  so  many  places  is  lost — real  "common 
prayer"  and  common  praise,  when  the  psalms,  and  hymns,  and  an- 
thems are  sung,  as  well  as  when  they  are  read. 

I  have  thus,  beloved  brethren,  presented  to  you  in  this  Letter,  what 

the  Convention  desired  you  should  all  hear.     It  needs  no    addition  or 

exposition.     I  commend  .it  affectionately  to  your  kind  acceptance  and 

consideration ;  and  praying  the  grace  of  God  to  be  with  you,  I  remain, 

Your  affectionate  friend  and  Pastor, 

CHAS.  P.  McILVAINE. 
Cincinnati,  June  12,  1855. 


1 


Gay  lord  Bros. 

Makers 
Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

PAI.  JAN.  21,  IMS 


